Any show with quantities of Spitfires in double figures is very special in my book – I shall certainly be there on both days 🙂

Ditto to both

One of them originated from Leningrad, but I suspect he was Polish rather than Russian, this being a cover for family back home.

You must mean Sgt Feliks Teofil Wares, killed in Spitfire VA X4173 HX-X on 19 May 1944. Yes, he was Polish, and yes, he was born in Petersburg (it wasn’t called Leningrad until some time after he was born).

What about Leonard B. “Tuck” Smith, a Navy lieutenant on loan to Great Britain who got the US DFC for is part in the hunt for the Bismark.
In May 1941, six months before the U.S. entered the war, Smith was on air patrol near Ireland when he spotted the German pocket battleship Bismarck. His radio message to the British enabled them to locate the Bismarck.
President Roosevelt decided to lend a number of Catalinas to the British through lend-lease, then-Lt. j.g. Smith was sent to Britain to train Royal Air Force pilots.
Smith accompanied the pilots on routine patrols which explains why he was there in the first place.
26th of May 1941, Smith was in a Catalina along with a Royal Air Force pilot and crew. They were flying at an altitude of about 500 feet when Smith first saw the Prinz Eugen and as they got closer the Bismarck fired on them.
Smith got the Distinguished Flying Cross for this and since the U.S. was officially neutral, it was a risky decision to recognize Smith for his participation in a combat operation. Yet, a citation signed by Navy Secretary Frank Knox lauded Smith’s “heroism and extraordinary achievement as a volunteer observer … during an aerial search for the German pocket-battleship Bismarck.”
What happened to neutrality then?

Certainly not my area of research, other than having read some books long time ago. However:
1) I would say it’s rather understandable that the neutral US Navy/USCG/USAAC operated against German ships/submarines because the latter did attack neutral US merchant ships in convoys to Britain. Bismarck etc. were there to destroy convoys from America to Britain. America was sending stuff to Britain in these convoys and not for free. You can compare this with Swiss fighters intercepting aircraft of the fighting sides, and I am sure some of them may have been decorated for bringing down Allied or German aircraft. Neutrality doesn’t mean you cannot protect your own country’s interests.
3) I understand Smith never joined the RAF/Royal Navy, did he?

“Fate is the Hunter” is the best aviation book I’ve ever read.
One title which probably few, if any forumites have ever read is “Up, To the Brightest Star” by Boleslaw Pomian, published in English back in 1946 and to my knowledge not reprinted. If you can get it, read it.

If you check those photos I posted in the ‘James Bond film aircraft’ thread, you’ll see that Mark even got special ‘mercenary pilot’ haircut for the film.

The matter of Soviet Spitfires has been discussed at length in Finland. C-F Geust, the co-editor of “Red Stars in the Sky” series of books, and arguably one of the leading authorities on Soviet AF history, says that Soviet Spitfires never saw any action on Finnish, or other northern fronts.

PR Spitfires in RAF and Soviet service saw plenty of action on ‘other northern fronts’, best proved by the fact that quite a few of them have been recovered in recent years in places like Norway.

IIRC the Soviet Spitfires actually saw no action on any front, but on this one I am not sure.

You remember incorrectly. Spitfire Vs of the 57th Guards Regiment saw a lot of action, scoring kills and losing aircraft shot down, during fighting over Kuban Peninsula. This is relatively well covered in various publications, including those in English language (not necessarily by the author you mentioned).

Geust & Co have recently published a two-part book which lists all Finnish aerial victories, checked against Russian archives, and even in these books all “Spitfires” have been corrected, mostly to Yak-7s.

I never said Finns shot down any Spitfires, have I?

Again, personally I do not have any access to Soviet records, but Mr Geust has, and according to his research no Spitfires ever operated in Leningrad area.

I do not have my sources at hand, but I am quite positive that a number of PVO Regiments equipped with Spitfires were based around Leningrad, and I think some were also based near Murmansk. The most reliable published source I can think of is ‘Spitfire International’, I am sure someone here has it at hand to check. I also recall that a victory over a reconnaissance Junkers was claimed by Soviet Spitfires in the area towards the end of the war. I’ll try to dig out more details.

Coming back to the original quote: “fought on more fronts, in more countries and in more theatres than any other fighter in history” it would be interesting to see a list of the fronts, countries, and theatres where the Hurricane fought and the Spitfire did not.
The British-Italian front in East Africa comes to my mind, the countries of Belgium, Finland and Yugoslavia (assuming we speak of a country’s air force, and not a country’s territory), but I can’t see any theatres.

So no-one’s got a type with broader service?

Is the Spitfire No.2?

Hold it James, you’re a bit too quick for me. I still think that for each country/front/theatre with Hurricanes and without Spitfires it is possible to find a country/front/theatre where the reverse took place. As for the above list I made: in 1940 Belgium had Hurricanes, and they fought over Belgium (fighter Spitfires absent, although RAF PR Spits were there), but in 1944/45 Belgian squadrons had Spitfires and Spitfires fought over Belgium (no Hurricanes); the same applies to Yugoslavia 1941 vs. Yougoslavia post-WWII. Finland never had any Spitfires (although Spitfires fought over Finland), but, for example, the State of Israel never had (never mind used in combat) any Hurricanes. Hurricanes were used in the East African campaign, and Spitfires did not. Spitfires defended Darwin, Hurricanes didn’t. And so on…

To clarify my point re the CAM Hurries: this was in response to JDK’s RAF Blenheim comment. Don’t think that Fighter Command used many Blenheims in the Battle of the Atlantic. 😀

They didn’t. I believe Coastal Command did.